Triggering a new era of open innovation
Do you have a crazy idea in mind and want to make it happen?
If yes keep reading.
In this period of global recession, open strategies over the internet have become for many entrepreneurs, creative and innovators, the essential way to share their ideas and find possible business solutions to start up their projects.
One great example is Babele: an online innovation-center dedicated to anyone who has an idea or a project and would like to make it happen with the help of a community.
Babele was recently launched in September and got immediately traction within the startup community.
How does it work?
Entrepreneurs follow a step-by-step methodology to easily convert their idea into a complete business strategy. They receive support and feedback from the community of mentors and supporters, and find the right people to help them develop the project. The platform is based on a crowdsourcing approach to innovation.
Babele aims to support social innovation by engaging local communities and individuals in the co-creation of more sustainable solutions. “Through open collaboration, we can help individual fulfilling their human potential” says one of the founders during a recent interview for Romania Insider.
Several economists and successful entrepreneurs support the concept of sharing the business ideas. For example, Nilofer Merchant in her article Harward Business review “Let your ideas go”, or Patrick Hull in Forbes Magazine “Talk about your idea, it won’t get stolen”. They strongly believe that ideas cannot be stolen, because the hardest task in creating a startup is not having the idea, but implementing it. Execution is essential to succeed.
Ruxandra and Emanuele, co-founders of Babele, did a lot of research on this topic, and have demonstrated that if people open up, collaborate and work together, they can achieve greater results than anyone working alone.
In order to validate their vision, the 2 cofounders held a series of workshops on open innovation. During these events called “Cook your startup”, participants learn about business best practices and discover how openness and collaboration can help accelerating the project execution. They work together to structure their ideas using the Babele methodology and give each other feedback.
The name „Cook your startup” was chosen because Emanuele is a passionate cook and during the lunch breaks, he engages the audience in the preparation of a collaborative pizza, as a team building exercise. The workshops became popular: first in Romania, then in France, Italy, and in other 7 countries throughout Europe.
To date, more than 100 startups used the opportunity to share their business plan in Babele. They have structured their ideas online, and built their community of mentors and supporters, who are free to, give feedback, help validate key assumptions and contribute with their unique skills to the projects.
Babele intends to offer these creative minds much more: the organization is forging collaborations and partnerships with universities and incubators, in order to grow the community and boost collaboration within the platform.
Everyone can be an active change-maker in this emerging paradigm of openness and collaboration in Business. You can make a difference: join the community, engage with different projects, and help the best initiatives come true.